Clamp for drawbenches or the like



July 1o, 1945.

W. A. WEIGHTMAN CLAMP YFOR DRAW BENCHES 0R vTHE LIKE original Filed Feb. 15, 1940 INVENTOR WUGm-A Welghjcmfm,

` ATTORNEY Patented July 10, 1945 oer-ICE .2,380,277 .l eLAMrIFoR n-RAWBENGHEsLoRmHE: ELKE williamn;Weigiitman, Philadelphia,*Pa.,.assign ..or to .Edward -G.-Budd"Manufa`oturing "Com- "Sylvania This `invention relates :4to a .draw- Abench and more particularly to the clamping means-'whereby the vvorlrv strip is held.while it-is-drawnth-rough Aforming rolls.

f This application isa division-otmy applieation Y Serial No. $187,983.,.fi1ed- Februarylf, .-1940 for Draw rolling machine, .on f which Patent WNO. 2,288,119 issued June 30,. 194.2.V

It is an object of rthe invention toeprovide .a

clamping Y means `.for l such `Jznaehines swhich .is

rugged in construction,- whiohds. designed-.tapermit the clamping reactionto-be-taken-by-aclosed .frame and tohave the clampinggforceaugmented by the member through Whehtthefdrawfpull: is

applied. The clampingmeansis turtherzdesigned so that the greater .the -ior-ce off-the .draw,the greater the resulting reaction and clamping force,

` so that the Work stripbeing:drawnncannotbecome unooupledrl from I the drawing .means ...during .the drawing operation.`

It is a further object to. provide .-.aclam'ping `mean s'fvvhich is readily adaptable `or...aidi.ustable `to different` classes ogWOrk, andlinhwh'chlthe clampingV jaws. proper. are readily? applied. or-removed. to permit theirV replacement-, andadaptation to such diierentclasses. of Work. Theblaniping means is furtherprovidedvvith a Widebasd support suitably guided byantifrition means in trackways oiset from'the' llinebffdravvol'the Work strip, thus preventingtilting fthe carriage under Vthe "drawpullandits 'rrn 'support under'f' the forces involved `Ain ,"thedraw.

Other objeots and advantagesari'd'thelmanner in whichthey are attained' wilhbeoomelele'arer in Connection With'the'dravving appended hereto. p In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is aside elevational View off'the'drav'ving `rnaclfiine in its entirety Withthe invention Shown applied thereto.

"applied'may'consistof a series orsets mating Vrolls "I which are "arranged"y inA such" 'alignment that" they can act upon tnegwoik 'strip f ,"the section f .whiehis tolb formedsubstnnauy" in a commonfplane.` Six setsoffthese rolls fare shown,l butthese may be,l of` course;=more: orfless. :They are commonly :mountedeon-a supporting -vbase I2. TheV strip material-Il=mayrbeisupplied `:to Athe machinewin the-form of 1a coil .which `for .conveniencel sake, `may be mounted upon-a r9- tating tab'leor reel I3 having a verticalaxis I4. The sheet strip II is threadedthrQugh-allofthe v1mating rolls. andat itsI delivery end itis engaged fby a draw clamp I6 `mounted'for-longitudinal movement on'the draw 4bench support through whichclamp the d ravv-pullisrapplied.y Thispull -is+applied by a chain I'I vof.alengthiadequateto .traverse the clamp I6, avdistance equalto .the -length of theI elementsv to-bel'iormed from the `Work strip. Connection `with the chain isby means of a hooked link I8. -The chain is driven -throughasuitable reductionV gearing I9 from the electric motor I-9. Thedraw clamp II comprisesa ruggedclo'sed frame carrying a pair of transversely extending vertically relatively adjustable .,clampsl'ZI `fixed in longitudinal. posi-tion inf theranie- 2l) by 'the vertically extending gibs"22. VT'he faoesor jaws 23 of these clamps are shaped toaocod With .the sectionv of lthe Work'strip I I'tolfbe 'clamped 4and to adapt .the clamps readily*to'difernt'woik lseetions, .the Afaces .or,.\jaws' 23 fare, repla'c able and removable by divisiongenerallylin the"l horijzoritalplaneof .the bodies of 'theolamps 2Ifarid connection therewith through transversely exftendingkeys'll and connecting Io'oltsf'25;

'.'lheupper .of the'clampslll maybe r'ais'edaii'd lowered by vertically adjustablefscrews 26j`pas'sing loosely through openings'lin thetp f V`the `frame andhavingscrew lthreaded engagement with longitudinal Vextending 'cylidric'albeaiing menibers' rotatable in bearings in the -to'p .ofthe r-ameJ'Z. `This 4support of the screwsprnits slight tilting'thereoi" Without 'plaing undueA 'strain thereon.

".IThelower of the clamp b'odiesLZijho'weverfis vertically adjustable l'thiough ."a, 'longitudinally 'elongated and'transvers'elyrwidened `vveugeinreih- "ber'zs, This 'long "and wide 'wedge-memberize restsin afse'at'fll formedin thelongard'vvide bottom portion 2 I of the'vcloseldf frarhe2 "of *the Ytramp. The cmsedframezn ispreferably: made in 'two parts bolteuitogether by'bousna; AThe Wedgememben'29 .is 'guided `for longitudih'alslid- 'ing movement in 'thei seatL 3U 'and extends into la corresponding seat 3 I ri theflow'ere'l'am'pl bo'dy"2 I VerticalV adjustment of 'the' l'W'er lID "b'dy `2I slbrought about'by the'longitudinal'nfoven'lt ofthe Wedge meinben'g under `the"draw p'ullln the strip Il. :Terms 'end thewedgefz'siseon.

nected at its forward end by a hinge connection 32 to the draw lik I8 having a hook or tooth 33 adapted to enterbetween two successive pins 34 of the draw chain II, whereby the operation of the chain Vby the motor I9 inthe direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 3, drags the clamp I6 and hence draws the strip II through the rolls of the machine.

The Wedge 29 is retained in a determinate nor mal position by one or more longitudinally extending studs 35 passed through the 4adjacent transverse wall 36 of the frame portion 20' and each having a biasing spring 3T surrounding it. Lock nuts 38 serve to adjust the tension of the spring 31 and in this way adjust the normal rearward position of the Wedge with zero pressure on the spring. l

The clamp I6l is provided with supporting legs 39 extending forwardly and rearwardly on each side of the chain I'I. These legs bear at their extremities rollers 40 which travel in' inwardly facing channel-section tracks 4I at opposite sides 0f the continuous longitudinally extending ooring 42 uponwhich the chain I'I travels. These legs afford an elongated travelling base for the clamp steadying the -clamp under the reactions of lthe work and chain thereon.

- In operation, the strip I I having been threaded through the rolls and the clamp I6 having been connected to the delivery end of the strip, the starting of the electric motor I9, with the link I8 hooked into the chain II, applies pull to the 4clamp Irand through it draws the strip II through the properly adjusted sets of mating rolls I to form the strip to its desired crosssection.

The pull of the chain by an oiset vertically lower than the pull of the strip, imposes a torque upon' the clamp I6 counter clockwise, as seen in 'Fig 3. yThis torque is taken and effectively reacted in the frame of the machine by the elon- `gatedbase aorded by the legs 39 from the clamp @By reason of the Wedging engagement of the `'clamp b e drawn together and in iirm gripping engagement with the strip II. lof the wedge 29 and the complemental face of The initial angle the lower clamp body 2l is such that the upper clamp body 2| may be set up tightly'against the lower without displacing the wedge 29. The reaction to the clamping force of the screws 26 is 'taken by the wedge 29 and the bottom 20 of the clamp frame 2U. However, the pull of the chain I'I is applied directly to the wedge 29 through the hooked or toothed link I8, and the stronger the pull on the wedge, the tighter it is drawn, and the stronger becomes the clamping force of the jaws 23 of the clamp upon the end of the strip II, the initial reactive force of the wedge being increased and converted into a more powerful clamping force, the screws 26 taking the reaction. Thus the strip cannot get away' once the clamping jaws grip it.

In the foregoing description, a specic form of clamping device has been described, but it will lbe understood that applicant does not wish to be limited to the precise detail of the described embodiment, since the invention may obviously take other forms which would readily occur to those lskilled in the art, and all such obvious modicationsare intended to be covered in the appended claims.

comprising a clamp structure having legs extending in the direction of draw and forming a widened base for supporting and guiding it on a runway, clamping members in said structure adapted to receive and clamp between them the work being drawn, one of said clamping members being movable in said structure transversely to the direction of draw and toward and away from the other clamping member and having its clamping reaction taken up by a wedging means pointingin the direction of draw, and a draw connection from said wedging means to a source of power, the plane of said connection and the plane in which the work is clamped being offset from each other, the widened base opposing tilting of the clamp due to said oset relation.

2. In a clamping device for a draw bench or the like, a supporting structure, a pair of relatively movable clamping members arranged on said supporting structure and adapted to receive and clamp between them work to be drawn, guiding means on said structure adapted for guiding the latter on a predetermined path on the draw bench, and adjustable means between said structure and one of said clamping members adapted to regulate the alignment of such member with respect to said guiding means and thereby to the plane of draw, and means automatically actumembers, supported by said structure, adapted to receive and clamp between themv work to be drawn, said clamping members being movable relatively to each other and to said structure, independently adjustable means between said structure and one of said clamping members to regulate the latters alignment with respect to the plane of draw, and means automatically actuated by a draw connection to a source of power to force the other clamping membertoward said irst clamping member.

4; A clamp device for draw benches or the like comprising a clamp supporting structure, a pair of clamping members movable in said structure and relatively to each other, said clamping members being adapted to receive and clamp between them the work being drawn, means betweensaid structure and one of said clamping members to regulate the alignment of this member with respect to the plane of draw, means between the other of said clamping members, said structure -and a draw connection of the type forcing said fmeans pointing in the direction of draw, and a draw connection from said wedging means to a source of power for tightening said wedging means and for pulling said device along the runing tilting of the clamp due to said offset relation.

6. A clamp device according to claim 5 in combinaton with a draw bench or the like, a runway on said draw bench, one of said wide base of said structure and said runway being formed with a channel extending in the direction of draw while the other one of said base and said runway has portions projecting into such channel so as to further assist in the opposing of the tilting of the clamp due to said offset relation.

WILLIAM A. WEIGHTMAN. 

